"I shook out the pockets of my robe." Many times in the Old Testament, oaths were physically demonstrated as a witness to what was promised. Nehemiah is demonstrating to the Jewish leaders what will happen if they break the promise they had made. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-symaction]])
# So may God shake out of his house ... So may he be shaken out and emptied
Here Nehemiah speaks of God taking away all of a man's possessions as if God were shaking him out of his home and possessions like Nehemiah shook out his robe. Alternate translation: "So may God take away from every man who does not keep his promise all of his possessions and his home like I have taken everything out of the fold of my robe" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
See in Reader
